It’s that time again y’all — and about time too. You know. It’s summertime, and everyone’s thoughts turn to what the heck are we gonna read by the pool/hiding away from the crazy heat/on vacation? Well, the Ghastly Awards have you covered, at least for your horror comics fix. And there are some doozies from last month!

Hack/Slash: Son of Samhain has really switched up the storyline, and all bets are off. Spaced says that’s a Very Good Thing for fans of the series, and horror junkies in general. LIBRETTO Volume One: Vampirism had me at it’s gothic-feel of a title, and Bree says it’ll fascinate fans of the fang. Steve Banes weighs in on the latest Poe story to hit the shelves, Morella and the Murders in the Rue Morgue. And if you’re in the mood for a bloody good (heh) origin story? Decap says Rise of the Blood Queen #1 will definitely fill the bill.

Chilling stories for a hot-as-Hades month. Enjoy!

Ghastly Awards – June 2014 Update

Don’t forget to submit your book for the 2014 Ghastly Awards!

Horror comics are becoming more and more frequent in our reading culture, and the Ghastly Awards are here to recognize those that shine the brightest. We encourage all Comic Creators and Publishers to take the time to head over to www.ghastlyawards.comand submit your work for 2014 Ghastly Award Nomination consideration.

Creators please remember that you can submit your Horror Comic work throughout the entire calendar year! For the month of June 2014 the Judges are recommending you go back and take a look at:

Hack/Slash: Son of Samhain (Umage) – Still dealing with the death of Vlad, Cassie Hack’s life is coming apart more than it ever has before. Leaving Georgia and losing their child to the system Cassie becomes a bounty hunter, but bringing down non-slasher bad guys won’t be as easy as she thought. During a bounty collection Cassie is interrupted by Delroy, a bounty hunter, but of a different kind. Delroy knows Cassie and her past and offers her a chance to return to her old life. But, will Cassie go back to slasher slaying or is the hope of a normal life still a driving force for her? The reins of Hack/Slash have been handed over to Michael Moreci and he has done an excellent job of capturing Cassie in a way that still harnesses her original origins but gives her his own mature spin. This isn’t a reinvention of Cassie, but rather a continuation of her story and it’s told with no loss of any of the humor or the horror of Hack/Slash. Steve Seeley’s art is spot on with the action continuously flowing throughout the comic with the dialogue being smart, catchy and fun. This is a great opening start to a new chapter in Cassie’s life that I know will be filled with some bloody gory fun. – Spaced

LIBRETTO Volume One: Vampirism (IDW / 44Flood) (IDW) – The insanely talented men behind LUST partnered with IDW to produce an intense art book / comic book / and artist biography (via interviews with and conducted by the contributing artists). This massive, 200+ page tome runs on a theme of vampirism, as the press release states, “…vampirism, being the misuse of power, as well as the objectification and exploitation of others.” Each contributor explores this concept with their unique style of art, be it painting, digital art, sculpture, photography, etc. With each interview, we delve into the dark minds of our favorite artists and their motivations for creating the gorgeous pieces of dark art that we’ve all come to love so much. The care and time that went into making this volume is evident and it’s clear that each artist has a deep knowledge of and passion for the theme itself. The commentary within the pages of LIBRETTO is deep and the takeaway is resounding. – Bree Ogden

Morella and the Murders in the Rue Morgue (Dark Horse) – Richard Corben adapts two classic Edgar Allan Poe terror tales with seriously fun and sometimes frightening results in this one-shot from Dark Horse Comics. As with most Corben projects, the art is a visual, unique feast for the eyes, sinister, sexy, gruesome, and 100% like no other Poe version you’ve ever seen before. – Steve Banes

Rise of the Blood Queen #1 (Bloody Gore Comix) – I freaking LOVE Zombie Commandos from Hell books. They have this feel of the late 80s and early 90s, that just bring me back to everything I love about horror. The story by Steph Dumais is fantastic. Like I mentioned, it has this 80s vibe to it, it’s post apocalyptic and retro at the same time. It’s disturbing and troubling, and this is all just a build to explain where the Blood Queen came from. The artwork is GORE-Geous! Dumais split up art duties between himself, Mike Bauman, Adam Geyer, Walter Sablotny, Mark K Allen and Croc Dave. Each artist has their own style, yet it came together so well here. Personally I’ve not hear of Mike Bauman before, but he is on my radar now. This was a great read from start to finish. I do highly suggest that if you pick this one up, you buy yourself all 3 of the covers. Look it up, you’ll see why. – Decapitated Dan

Founded in 2011 by Decapitated Dan with the help of Steve Banes, Mike Howlett, Lonnie Nadler and Mykal Banta, the Ghastly Awards recognize outstanding achievements in Horror Comics over a range of 15 different categories. The nominees are chosen by other horror comic book professionals and winners are chosen by a panel of judges.

The Awards were named for acclaimed comics creator “Ghastly” Graham Ingels.
Starting in 2013 the Ghastly Awards switched over to a Submission based process. Comic Publishers and Creators can submit their books for nomination consideration throughout the calendar year. The top five nominees in each category will be chosen by the Judges, and will then be voted on by the Judges, Creators and Fans to decide the winners.

The Ghastly Award Judges work strictly on a volunteer basis. There is no paid staff and the awards are completely funded from the generous donations of its sponsors.